Today he had decided to actually venture out of the Red Fern Forest and go in a new direction, the Copse. He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d wanted to go to the stiff, thick place but perhaps it was because it would be a nice break from staying in the same area for as long as he had. The Copse wasn’t somewhere that he frequented and therefore it wasn’t as known to him, which made it all the better. He traversed through the thick foliage, crinkling his nose at the muskiness it emitted. He knew there was likely to be a lot of animals for he could smell them, but they were so effectively hidden that it was increasingly difficult to tell where they were if he did want to catch a meal. Well played, pray. Well played.

As he went, he paused with auds flickering forward in surprise. He’d know the scent that fluttered across him anywhere. But what was she doing out here? A sigh escaped his maw as he knew that he was going to inevitably follow it to make sure she was okay, be her protector like usual because he simply couldn’t help himself. He followed the scent, having more trouble getting through than her small, lithe frame probably did. He managed to squeeze past a pair of trees before he was suddenly met with a grouping of trees quite unlike the rest of the area. They were pale white, covered with dark knots and slashes and extremely skeletal. He looked at them curiously, padding up to one and scratching it its bark, which he found to be surprisingly soft, to check it out further. He gave a snort, the cold causing his nose to drip and he rubbed at it with a paw before turning and venturing further in. There, amongst the tall white trees Sahalie stuck out like a sore thumb. “You know what these are?” he called, looking around them.

”No, but I like ‘em,” was her simple reply and he chuckled, shaking his head. That was definitely a Hal thing to say. She didn’t even really know anything about the trees, for all they knew they could be poisonous or something yet she automatically decided she liked it from what she saw on the outside. In retrospect, maybe he and the trees were a lot alike. He moved forward, inspecting the area even further trying to put the surrounding to memory when a very indignant set of words escaped the girl’s mouth. His brows rose and he turned around to face her, her mouth open and she almost looked...shocked? Hurt? A mixture of both? Either way he was instantly alarmed. What had he done?

“What do you me--” he began, puzzled, then something occurred to him. This was the farthest he’d been from the borders of the Bend since he got back and perhaps he’d been so close with his meetings with the girl that he’d simply been able to blend into the scents. Now he was basically out in the open and he could see that she was not happy about his hesitance. He squirmed under her gaze, turning, unable to meet her eyes. “It’s...complicated okay?” he said. The silver boy knew that would never be sufficient to her, but he might as well try, right?

God, she was all over the place. For a moment he was preparing himself for a scolding, a lot of hot words from a small, eccentric body. Next she was suddenly staring at him with big, wavering eyes and pouty lips and he was feeling his resolve slipping. If there was one thing Kino Lagina could not stand it was causing her pain, and yet they seemed to have an excellent way of doing that to each other. ”You? God, Hal, no. Just...no it’s not you.” Okay it was kind of her, but that wasn’t a topic he wanted to breach. Not yet...probably not ever. She’d made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with romantics, nothing to do with him in that way and if he repulsed her that much then maybe it was for the best. Sometimes wolves were best left just not knowing something.

“I just don’t know how I feel about coming back. Don’t get me wrong I really like it there, honestly I do. It’s better than...before but maybe that’s why. I’ve been gone for so long, when you guys needed me most. What kind of wolf leaves their pack in the middle of winter with five pups to care for who can barely even eat solid food to look for some ghost who they didn’t even end up finding? And what the hell did I even think I’d do when I found her? ‘Hey, listen I know you picked them over me and you might even hate me now but could you maybe come with me? We can totally make things like before our father was murdered, our mom died, and I was thrown out of the pack. Sound good?’ I was so stupid, so maybe I shouldn’t go back.” he raved, his brows pulling together in a mixture of hurt and just plain annoyance at himself. “Someone could have gotten hurt. You could have gotten hurt while I was gone and I wouldn’t have found out until I got back and it was too late.”

Kino knew what she was saying was logical, he knew that Spieden was a pretty decent wolf and all and that the Bend certainly wasn’t lacking in adults that wanted to lend a paw. But, there was still a part of him that would find a way to blame himself for something. To pin something on himself so that he couldn’t ever be content. "You're gunna need to start trusting other wolves besides me, ya know," she said and he wanted to correct her, to say that there were plenty of wolves that he trusted...but then he would be lying. Truly she was the only one, and he didn’t see what the big deal about that was. But, then again maybe that was the problem.

As soon as the subject was broached it was decidedly cut short with Hal’s swift change of subject and he was forced to bite his cheek. A name for this place, huh? Looking around he attempted to think of something that might fit the area well, something that was unique. Names flew by in his head but none of them seemed to fit. He wasn’t someone to name things anyhow, he wasn’t the creative one in their duo. “Uh, Inside Out Forest?” he said lamely, squinting at the trees. There was just nothing slapping him in the face.